Ill+Tea=Better

I am just now recovering from a week-long, life-wrecking cold. Horrible, awful, no good, very bad days. Everything from cat scratched throat and snot stuffed cranium to full-blown ear infection. Feeling much better now though and full recovery is imminent.

I am an independent contractor, so I cannot bill if I do not work, I.E. no sick days. Lost days are lost pay. Period. Thankfully, I was well enough to work from home 3 days out of the 5. I could not have done so without gyokuro. I had about 80 grams thankfully and it's all gone now. I found the brothy and astringent qualities of this tea to comfort and stimulate just enough to get me through it. It is also powerfully flavorful which helps when one can hardly taste anything.

I know there have been similar posts, but I am wondering what tea (and by "tea", I mean camellia sinensis) do you like to drink when you are ill? I know all the tisane options such as ginger, echinacea, lemon, honey, etc, etc. They are terrific and all, but really I'm more curious about what tea you drink for wellness and a bit of stimulation when you are trying to pick yourself up off the mat before the ref counts 10.

This cold was a rare one for me. It has easily been a full calendar year since I've been sick at all, which I sometimes credit to my green tea consumption. Do you think sencha's properties are more health retaining than other green tea? What in particular do you like about drinking sencha during an illness vs. drinking it to prevent one?

I don't know if anything would have helped me stave off this one. That would be like throwing some sencha at a freight truck.

9 years ago I started drinking tea on a daily basis. In that time, I have not had a cold or the flu (both a seasonal occurrences in prior years). The few times I've felt a cold coming on I immediately drank copious amounts of tea, mostly oolong and puer. Seems to avert the full onset.While the addition of extra fluids into the body may help, I like to believe that tea is the elixir.

It depends on what's going on, really. I've found certain very mild greens are drinkable on a stomach too upset to handle straight water.

Some good quality black teas can sooth a mild stomach upset.

I've heard endless stories of young people from Asian countries getting sick, being ordered to drink a certain tea by an older relative, and promptly feeling much better. There might be a psychological component there -- drinking the tea your mother made to make you feel better as a child might work by old association. These stories often seem to involve pu erh, however, which I know nothing about other than that there are four cakes sitting in boxes in my closet to see what will happen years from now if I finally remember I have them and give them a try.

I've heard endless stories of young people from Asian countries getting sick, being ordered to drink a certain tea by an older relative, and promptly feeling much better. There might be a psychological component there -- drinking the tea your mother made to make you feel better as a child might work by old association. These stories often seem to involve pu erh, however, which I know nothing about other than that there are four cakes sitting in boxes in my closet to see what will happen years from now if I finally remember I have them and give them a try.

subdude1 wrote:9 years ago I started drinking tea on a daily basis. In that time, I have not had a cold or the flu (both a seasonal occurrences in prior years). The few times I've felt a cold coming on I immediately drank copious amounts of tea, mostly oolong and puer. Seems to avert the full onset.While the addition of extra fluids into the body may help, I like to believe that tea is the elixir.

I as well noticed that after I started drinking tea on a regular basis that I was far less sick (still sick sometimes, but WAY less). I used to drink a lot of water, but its now mostly supplemented with tea, so my fluid intake is about the same. Also, chamomile tea (which I adore) has been proven to have some antibacterial properties, so possibly this is what keeps feeling better?